We strap our heavy backpacks on and head out of the Harmony Istanbul Hostel and towards the main subway station (Aksaray) which is located about 5 tram stops away. I feel stronger and 25 kg backpack feels lighter than usual. As we walk past Hagia Sophia museum we see kids running up to a moving tram and few of them successfully jump on the back of the tram and get a free ride. They are all under 9 years of age.
Istanbul is leaving a significant mark on us and our mental and physical endurance. We have changed 3 hostels in a matter of 8 days, visited and walked to the major historical and other sites of this beautiful big city including the visit to Asian side. This proved to be exhausting but well worth the experience. We are leaving Istanbul with many new memories that will be with us for a long time. Just to name a few, they include magical and magnificent Sultanahmet mosque (aka blue mosque) to having a fresh fish sandwich under the bridge while locals pull the fish up using their fishing polls situated right above us. This is definitely place that we will have to come back and visit again in the future.
As we walk towards the main subway station we are hardly being approached by shop keepers and restaurant staff. Must be our backpacks. Except the juice guy who hollers at us trying to sell us freshly squeezed pomegranate juice to make us stronger for our trip. We might go for it except that his price is four times higher than what we had paid for on the Asian side.
We get to the metro and There we meet a Kurdish guy who helps us confirm that the direction that we are headed to is the correct one. We get to the bus station and purchase two bus tickets to Kemer and go to the second floor of the bus station where we take our backpacks off. We still have around 3 hours before our scheduled time of departure, 11:00 pm. I notice the masjid sign in the hall. I take the wudu and go to pray in the small room. How convenient. I sometimes think it is easy to be muslim in this country. Three hours pass by rather quick and we are on the bus to Kemer. Buses in Turkey are a pleasant surprise. One feels that they are not in the bus but the JetBlue airplane. Every seat has a screen where one can watch a movie, tv show, listen to the music or play a game. Bus seats are comfortable and after one bus transfer and numerous bus stops we arrive in Kemer at 1:00 pm next day. It is sunny here with no sign of wind and around 17 degrees Celsius, something we have rarely seen on this trip. We are excited to stay here and relax for the next 8 days. Our plan is to relax and chill on the balcony.
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